The 2023 Tesla Cybertruck compared with the projects launched in 2019: some promises were exaggerated, but on the other hand new and more useful functions arrive
December 11, 2023
Now that the details of the Tesla Cybertruck have been revealed to the world, there is a desire to understand how this project has evolved and the same Elon Musk he described it as “a nightmare” and that required well 4 years from the announcement to become a reality, and a much discussed one at that. In the 2019the year in which the vehicle was presented, the public’s imagination had been greatly struck by some details and features which over time proved impossible to create or impractical, others designed only to create sensation and expectation.
Tesla Cybertruck resists the baseball at 112 km/h
Bulletproof glass? Not exactly
In 2019 the video went around the world in just a few minutes Franz Von Holzhausen (Tesla’s head of design) throwing a steel marble at a side window of the Cybertruck declared as bulletproof. The glass breaks, great embarrassment but Elon’s joke”maybe we should have pulled more slowly…” overcomes the impasse. This must be why in the final version the resistance of the side windows, which are crystals shatterproof, has been tested with a baseball, and Franz even launched it slowly (it seems that the example of Cybertruck chassis no. 002 was his) finally declaring that the glass can withstand an impact at 70 mph (112 km/h) or at class 4 hail (a force of 30 Newtons).
A fantasy render of the floating Cybertruck
Three tons and it even floats?
Also there presumed buoyancy of the Cybertruck had been the subject of some propaganda with Elon’s statement in 2019 saying “…it will be able to move like a vessel for short distances“. Ok, he was joking, but up to a certain point. The new owners have just discovered in the various control submenus the “wade mode” which, if not really for floating, is at least useful for fording important waterways without danger to the batteries. The Wade mode, which is activated from “off road” mode pressurizes the suspension to get to 440 mm of ground clearance and also sends pressure into the battery compartment, to prevent any possible water infiltration.
The Cybertruck’s wade mode for fording. The integrated loading ramp will not be there
The motorcyclists’ dream does not come true
This loading ramp retractable extendable, spotted in the drawings of the first prototypes and which had raised a lot of enthusiasm, it won’t be done. Tesla deemed it too complex to make and it must also be said that the one in the photo seemed decidedly insufficient to hold the loads, not to mention the dirt that would collect inside. It then folded onto a removable, folding ramp that can be stowed in the tool compartment under the floor ($400 each).
The $400 ramp from the Cybertruck accessories catalog
First row with three seats: not received
The dimensions of the Cybertruck they would certainly allow it, but the hypothesis seen in the first drawings of one three-seater front row it was discarded almost immediately; the safety requirements of current crash tests make the integration of an airbag that also protects the central passenger very complicated, so in the end we opted for a large storage compartment with a support surface large enough to place a PC or the tray McDonald’s. At the moment only the new one Land Rover Defender predicts a small children’s seat which can be placed in the center of the tunnel.
The Cybertruck concept in 2019: three seats in front
Autonomy: 800 km for the Trimotor was a bit too much
Even if the Supercharger network in the USA is very widespread and reliable, the performance in terms of autonomy is always impressive, and the preliminary data from 2019 suggested the achievement of a real record for the three-engine version, which is called today Cyberbeast. Really 500 miles or 800 km, something that was unthinkable at the time, and in fact today’s data have been scaled down: the Cyberbeast is at altitude 320 miles/512 km with a battery pack from 123 kWh, which perhaps in the initial forecasts should have been larger, but there is also good news: version a 4WD AWD from $68,890 and two engines improves predictions by switching from 480 to 544 km, while the version with rear-wheel drive only is given for 400 km of autonomy. Tesla has provided an optional range extender, that is, an added battery to put in the floor, at the paltry price of $16,000.
Steer by wire and 48 volt electrical system
Two completely unexpected ones, however very important news which the Cybertruck implements in the final version and which electromechanics enthusiasts know well how to evaluate: the first is the transition of the entire electrical service system to voltage di 48 V instead of the traditional ones 12 V, and it is the first car in the world to do so. The reason is simple: by quadrupling the power supply voltage of the components, the current necessary to operate them is divided by four, and this allows you to save weight (about 50 kg) and costs on wiring, even if forces you to redesign almost all ancillary components such as the lighting system, air conditioning, fans, servomotors, solenoids. Very high costs that Tesla has to pay suppliers for relatively small-scale production, and that’s perhaps why Elon Musk insists that this standard be adopted by all manufacturers and has “given” the projects to all carmakers in the form of white-papers, even collecting the official thanks of the Ford CEO Jim Farley.
The 48V system, which could soon be extended to all Teslas, is also the basis for the introduction of the system steer by wire of the Cybertruck, also unexpected and never announced before. This predicts two servomotors on the front axle (redundancy means safety) and one at the rear to create a 4-wheel steering system which greatly benefits the vehicle in terms of handling. To govern this and other functions there is a unit connection system that abandons the classic CAN-bus in favor of one rete Ethernet Gigabit which simplifies wiring and increases the speed of on-board connections. From many points of view, as mentioned, the Cybertruck technique goes far beyond the model itself, which will not be imported into Europe, but involves all of Tesla’s production and will also be reflected in the next arriving model, the so-called Model 2 announced at 25,000 euros.
The Cybertruck’s steering has no steering column
2023-12-11 15:11:13
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